Photolithography is a process commonly used in semiconductor fabrication for selectively removing portions of a thin film from or depositing portions of a film onto discrete areas of a surface of a semiconductor wafer. A typical photolithography process includes spin coating a layer of a light-sensitive material (commonly referred to as a “photoresist”) onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer is then exposed to a pattern of light that chemically modifies a portion of the photoresist incident to the light. The process further includes removing one of either the incident portion or the non-incident portion from the surface of the semiconductor wafer with a chemical solution (e.g., a “developer”) to form a pattern of openings in the photoresist on the wafer. Subsequently, portions of the thin film on the surface of the semiconductor wafer can be selectively removed from or deposited onto the surface of the wafer through the openings of the photoresist mask.
One operational difficulty with the foregoing photolithography technique is that partial patterns may be formed in a peripheral region of the semiconductor wafer because of geometric limitations. Materials in areas corresponding to the partial patterns may delaminate and/or otherwise break away from the semiconductor wafer during etching, polishing, and/or another type of subsequent processing. The resulting small particles may cause processing difficulties and/or device failure in the microelectronic devices formed in the semiconductor wafer. Accordingly, certain improvements to the photolithography process may be needed.